The Las Vegas Strip is embedded in national lore — intrepid gamblers hoping to leave with pockets full of cash and tireless partiers looking to escape their lives for a brief moment. It’s the city’s main drag on which life is lived as much outside as it is inside the casinos and bars. But in recent months, the Strip has been the scene of tourists’ greatest fear: violent crime.

On Thursday, three people were killed in a shooting and crash after an altercation at the nearby Aria Resort and Casino spilled out onto the street. A Maserati, driven by 27-year-old aspiring rapper Kenny Cherry — who went by the hip-hop moniker Kenny Clutch — was fired on by people in a Range Rover SUV. Police say he was shot dead, causing him to crash into a taxicab driven by Michael Boldon, 62. The impact caused an explosion that killed Boldon and an unidentified passenger at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road, one of the city’s best-known intersections, leaving it closed temporarily while police investigated.

Although it shocked those still out on the Strip at 4 a.m., a time not uncommon for the partiers of Sin City, it is the latest in a series of homicides stretching back to at least December. Police have been careful not to call it a trend, instead insisting that crime is on the decline in the area, but such violent shootings certainly spark fear in tourists, who presume they’ll be safe among the Nevada city’s dazzling lights and endless entertainment.

“What happened on the Strip today will not be tolerated,” said Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie. “There are no absolutes when people’s behavior is in question.” But his statement is perhaps dulled after several other fatal Strip shootings recently.

On Dec. 14, Edward Brandt, a 31-year-old Illinois man, shot and killed his ex-girlfriend Jessica Kenny, 30, in the lobby of the Excalibur Hotel and Casino before shooting himself to death, the Las Vegas Review-Journalreported. Police said Brandt still harbored negative feelings about his and Kenny’s breakup, which happened more than two years ago. While the shooting was an isolated incident, hundreds of people were in the hotel lobby at the time, leading many to run screaming when the shooting broke out.

Just a week later, on Dec. 21, at the Bellagio, blackjack dealer Joyce Rhone, 44, suffered serious wounds to her face from razor blades allegedly wielded by Brenda Stokes Wilson, 50, who sought out the casino worker because she believed she was involved with her ex-fiancé. She even told police that she would have killed the woman if she hadn’t been stopped. She was later charged with kidnapping and murdering her ex-fiancé’s 10-year-old daughter.

On Feb. 6, a gunman thought to be jealous of 18-year-old Jeremy Miller’s relationship with a woman, ambushed and shot him in a parking-garage elevator at the United Artists Theatre. He survived but was left paralyzed. Two of Miller’s friends were also wounded. Police arrested Devante Jeffers, 18, on attempted-murder charges, and a 21-year-old man who is suspected of pulling the trigger is still at large, according to KLAS-TV.

Finally, on Feb. 18, Trent Wilcox, 25, and Carlos Heredia-Avalos, 23, were arrested after Eric Miller was stabbed in an elevator inside the Hotel at Mandalay Bay. After an altercation, the two restrained Miller and stabbed him 10 times, police say. Miller’s wife, who was also in the elevator, pressed the emergency button to summon hotel security. Miller was hospitalized with wounds to his arm and chest, KTNV-TV reported.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority released a statement quoting police statistics that showed violent crime on the Strip was down about 13% in 2012 and 11% so far in 2013. The organization called the incidents “isolated” and said Las Vegas continues to be safe.

Picking on Las Vegas is such a strange phenomenom. Despite the fact that these incidents either have identical twins in other cities on the same night and/or involved people who knew each other, the lights of "The Strip" somehow make it nationally relevant? I live in Las Vegas (moved here in 2008) and haven't had a single security incident. Compared to my life in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, this place is a safehaven!

I live in Las Vegas, and this is highly irresponsible reporting! The incidents at the Excalibur, Bellagio, and United Artists Theatre, as well as the incident on the Las Vegas Strip, were all cases in which both the primary victims and assailants knew one another. Further, the first three incidents centered around domestic/romantic components. The only incident which appears possibly to be random is the one at Mandalay Bay. This is a metropolitan area with an estimated two million inhabitants and one which sees millions of tourists each year. This article makes it sound as if tourists are being targeted for random acts of violence, which is simply not the case.

It's an embarassment to the Las Vegas Police Department letting this happen at one of the busiest intersections for both vehicles and pedestrians. Not only did 3 people die, but the perpetrator got away!

If one looks behind the facade of Vegas there is a real America of decay hidden in plain sight. Just beyond the strip there is homelessness on a monumental scale. Even on the strip, if you venture behind ANY hotel there is a scurrying in the shadows of forgotten folks who Vegas seems happy to ignore as long as they stay hidden. This revelation meant less to me than its canary in a coal mine component regarding America's recovery from the financial collapse. I still think our economy is broken and I'd suggest that the proof lies within cities and towns that are unable to provide more than jail time to our forgotten citizens at risk? The vibe sure feels as if America (and the world economy) is a house of cards with cities holding their breath in the hopes that visitors fail to notice how fragile and secretly decrepit they truly are. Vegas shares with Detroit and Celebration, Florida that same whistling passed the graveyard vibe that tells me that happy days are far away.

uptil I looked at the paycheck which was of $4722, I did not believe that...my... cousin woz like they say realie taking home money in there spare time on there computar.. there sisters roommate has done this for only a year and just now cleard the debts on their appartment and purchased a new Jaguar E-type. read more at,Big44.comCHECK IT OUT

Vegas is not safe at all. If you are with a group you can feel safe. I've been mugged twice there, and chased down the street by a 250 pound black man for not having a cigarette to give him (this guy most certainly wanted to kill me) That city if filthy, and people are now starting to see the dark side i've been a part of for 4 years.

Meh. These things happen everyday in Vegas, the only reason why the media is scandalizing these incidents is because they happened on the Vegas Strip where people, tourists primary can easy be exposed to these crimes.

Aaron. if you, thought Clarence`s comment is flabbergasting... last saturday I bought Mazda MX-5 after bringing in 5948 this past 4 weeks and a little over 10 grand this past month. it's actualy the coolest job I've ever done. I started this eight months/ago and straight away started to bring home minimum 71, per-hour. I went to this site, pie21.ℂom

Vegas is a fun and safe city to vacation in. I go once a year. Like any U.S. city I visit from my home in Canada, I am aware of go and no-go areas.

Each of the crimes listed are awful, and I feel for the victims. 3 of the other (than the recent shooting) 4 crimes were extensions of domestic violence. Someone reacting in a violent and immature manner to someone else who ended or interuppted an emotional or physically intimate relationship. These have nothing to do with Vegas or the nature of tourism there. I can't tell about the Feb 18 item.

This shooting and car crash is especially notable because of the collateral damage. I do not know about the repuation or behaviour of the victim, but the death of the cabbie just trying to make a buck and his passenger is the most disturbing part of the story. If Madison Gray (writer of the story) wants to make a compelling case for the Vegas strip becoming more dangerous then either do some research to demonstrate frequent or increasing level of "third party" victims of violence, or provide a comparison to other cities to demonstrate that "domestic" violence events occur at a higher rate in Las Vegas than other cities. Just looking at the police blotter and listing a bunch of violent events is to back up a headline lies somewhere between lazy and misleading journalism.

@SomeGuyInVegas I've lived here for 13 years and visiting since 1985. Yes we do have problems like any other city, but who doesn't?. When you hear: sin city, you should know this is not gonna be the holy city (aka the Vatican) I think the media is overreacting over this shooting. I still love my town no matter what. We have no earthquakes, no snow, no tornadoes, no hurricanes. So, don't get shocked when you hear that Vegas a crime

The real reason it
happened is drugs.. Both culprits are either users, enforcers and pushers. Many
high profile people in the US glorify drug use, and people just use them to
feel important. The damage to the country economy is huge, lost production,
high cost of health care, Education (high schools dropouts) and the human cost is additional to that. Socially
the US is going down.. The violence from Mexico will spill over the US.. Just
watch..!!

@HectorcitoLedezma-bongiovi@SomeGuyInVegas I have lived in LV now for 7 years and the Times is right. Las Vegas is a cesspool and if I could move away I would in a heartbeat. This is no place to raise children; this city is a one trick pony and quickly going the way of Detroit.

@SomeGuyInVegas Tourists don't have that luxury if they venture off 1 block they are in the middle of it -- go ahead say it isn't so. then plot out the violent crime stats from metro. i was born and raised in that cesspool over 50 years ago so go tell your lies somewhere where they don't have facts and figures.

There is shame when you take one legitimate story and doggie pile on other lesser stories which would have otherwise never hit national news for the sole purpose sensationalism. It’s opportunistic hyperbole. There are similar crime rates for all cites the size of Vegas across our country and indeed much of the world.

Good for you for moving to some small place like Reno, Eli, or Lovelock, some people enjoy having the convenient amenities of a larger city. Myself I don’t worry about crime in Vegas I live on the edge of BLM land.